Handles for implements of all kinds have been in use for centuries. Unfortunately, the handles themselves have undergone little variation or development over the years and, in many instances, are quite cumbersome for the user.
Handles for brushes have been, for the most part, of two general types, pencil-like and door-knob like. The pencil like handles are generally cylindrical and typically have a circular cross-section. Some brush handles of this type have a slight thickening of the diameter near the center of the handle giving the axial cross-section an arcuate look, making the handle a bit more comfortable. However, in general, even these pencil-like handles still have the attributes of and the deficiencies of purely cylindrical handles.
Door-knob like handles are generally easier to grip than pencil-like handles, but they have their own problems. In many instances where control of the item being held by the handle is crucial, as in painting (artistic), use of nail brushes, applying cosmetics, or the use of craft/hobby brushes, the door-knob like handles do not allow for precise control. With handles of the door-knob variety, the motion needed to move the item to which the handle is attached is from the wrist rather than the fingers. This results in a substantial loss of precise control over the item.
Other handles for brushes which have been used in the past include various product caps which have a brush affixed to the cap for storage in the container to which the cap is applied when it is not in use. Generally, these caps age not suitably shaped to allow for comfort of use and for precise control over the brush. Most of these caps are cylindrical in shape with a wide diameter and relatively short length. In fact they could be described as being of the door-knob type, having the defects associated with those types of handles. Typical of these are brush caps found in the nail polish and typographic correction fluid areas.
Still other handles for other implements such as hand tools are generally cylindrical in overall shape, but they may also have regular polygonal cross sections to allow for gripping. These handles may have more complex cutouts along the circumference of the cylinder (aligned axially) to allow for even greater gripping. These are typically found on tools that require substantial torques applied, such as screwdrivers, hand drills, awls, etc. Such tools are not concerned with the comfort of the handle to the user or with the fine control of the item held by the handle. In these tool applications, the ability to deliver the appropriate torque is of greater concern.
In addition to these issues, many people have some limitation to their manual dexterity. This is especially so for those who have medical conditions which do not allow for firm gripping of the pencil-like handles of the past, especially those afflicted with arthritis, and other such conditions. For these people, items having handles of the pencil-like type cannot be grasped as efficiently as they are intended to be, resulting in alternate techniques such as wrapping the fingers circumferentially about the handle so that motion needed to utilize the item would have to come from wrist or the entire arm. This leads to very little control over the item to which the handle is attached, a result which is totally unacceptable in areas such as artistic, craft and hobby work and application of cosmetics.
Furthermore, those persons having disfigurements of the hands, typically in the ends of the fingers often have difficulty in utilizing implements with the standard pencil-like handles. For many applications, such handles are all that is currently available. For other applications, the door-knob like handles are available, but they do not offer the degree of control which would be desirable for these individuals.